Anna Horneshaw jailed for killing housemate Zvonimir Petrovski in 'fit of rage' over cigarette money
Updated
A Melbourne woman has been sentenced to 17 years' jail for stabbing her housemate to death with his own boning knife after he refused to give her money to buy cigarettes.
Anna Horneshaw was 27 years old, and four months pregnant, when she killed 67-year-old Zvonimir Petrovski in the unit they shared in Thomastown in Melbourne's north on November 21, 2015.
Horneshaw's partner, Grant Brennan, also lived in the apartment.
In sentencing Horneshaw to a maximum 17-year jail term with a non-parole period of 13 years, Justice Jane Dixon told the Supreme Court Mr Petrovski was a friend and father figure to Horneshaw.
She said Mr Petrovski, who was an alcoholic and in poor health, was drinking at home with Mr Brennan on the night.
The court heard that when Mr Petrovski refused to give Horneshaw $70 she wanted to buy cigarettes with, she became frustrated and punched him in the head.
While he was lying on the floor, she stabbed Mr Petrovski 22 times with his large boning knife.
Justice Dixon described the killing as "completely unprovoked."
"You stabbed him 22 times in a fit of rage while he lay defenceless on the floor," Justice Dixon said.
The court heard Horneshaw had been a heavy drinker before she was pregnant, and she had made repeated attempts to get help for her drinking and mental health problems, especially after she was assaulted in 2014.
Justice Dixon said the friendship "involved mutual affection and care, but also frustration and dependency", and Horneshaw showed "sorrow and shame" at having killed her friend.
Father remembered as 'beautiful gentleman'
Outside court, Mr Petrovski's daughter, Donna Petrovska, said the sentence brought some closure.
"It doesn't bring my father back," she said.
"My father was a beautiful gentleman, he was a very kind person, he would do anything for anyone, he would always give anyone the benefit of the doubt.
"He didn't deserve to die the way he did. He was very brutally killed."
Justice Dixon said Horneshaw had good prospects of rehabilitation and wanted to care for her son, who was born last April.
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, law-crime-and-justice, crime, thomastown-3074, melbourne-3000, vic
First posted
